Here’s how to paint your own DIY Halloween Village that you can use year over year!

As a Michaels Maker team member I am challenged each month to come up with a new idea each month. Sienna loves playing with little village and doll sets so I thought it would be fun to make an entire village that we can use year after year:

We can even add to it over time:

You don’t have to go all out and paint the entire village at once. It would be fun to add a few buildings each year to your collection. Just remember to date them so you have a memory of when you made them!

Sienna loved helping me in this process. We made the miniature pumpkins first, then the miniature cemetery, and then finally the peg doll characters, all the while working on the village too:

The large white building was going to be a courthouse but she said, “Mom, that looks more like a hospital.” So that’s what I made it:

We searched lots of different collections online to find different details like shutters, window shapes, etc:

DIY Halloween Village:

I took a picture of each one so you can use them as a template to make your own:

An Abandoned House: It was Sienna’s idea to have the open windows and doors so that we could have the spooky eyes peeking out. I cut apart popsicle sticks for the “Boo”, “Keepout” and “Beware” signs. I used a glue gun to attach them.

A Spooky Hospital: I’m not sure if hospitals have clocks but we like the “almost midnight” idea. The skull lights are a spooky touch!

Casper’s House:The door is shaped for a ghost to enter. Adding cobwebs to any building automatically adds an element of creepy, right? The door plaque is so Casper can have guests.

Dead End Hotel: We added a coffin shaped door and balcony to this creepy hotel. The sign was made from a large popsicle stick.

A Creepy Cottage: Whoever lives here does not want visitors.

The Cauldron Cafe:The special of the day is something green that attracts flies. I’m sure it has bat whiskers, newt tail and other icky things. I added stonework to the door. The sign is also another popsicle stick.

A Haunted House:Crooked shutters and shoddy fences make the house seem abandoned and dilapidated.

A Church for the Cemetery:The cross was made from popsicle sticks.

Dracula’s House: A gothic window and a name plate.

Directions:

To make the buildings I used these little wood craft houses from Michaels. They also carry wood blocks and birdhouses that would work just as well with the same idea.

They are lightweight and stand up well. If you can’t find them you could also use 2×4’s cut in the same shape.

The first step was to spray paint them all some basic shades:

I picked Halloween-ish colors like green, purple, white and black:

I like the variety:

I painted each house one by one, spread out over a few days. The smaller the paint brush the easier it will be to add detail:

I picked just two or three colors for each building and stuck with the same family of colors across most of the buildings:

Michaels sells a great four pack of small detail brushes and sometimes I even cut off some of the wayward bristles as I’m painting.

Just get creative! If you mess up just sand off the paint and start over…you can always fix and touch up as well:

Sienna loves playing with the village but it also looks great as a table centerpiece:

These little peg dolls are available at Michaels. They come in packs as wood game pieces:

I use regular acrylic paint and just begin blocking off color for each character. If you have a certain character in mind the best thing is to search Google for cartoon images. Cartoon images have simplified character traits so it’s easy to pick out the simple elements that make each character unique!

I just work on painting the dolls little bits at a time, painting a body here, then maybe a hair style and a face:

I didn’t go through each doll individually but you can see the painting progression of some of the dolls here:

For small details use just a tiny bit of paint and a very small brush:

More details being added:

Hair, eyes, bow ties etc:

Getting close to being finished! Eyes, mouths etc added. If you mess up try taking a small bit of damp paper towel and wiping the mistake off quickly.

For the little witch I made a paper hat out of construction paper:

I used wire cutters to cut the tops of small nail brads off. I drilled a hole through the neck and used a dab of blue to secure them in place.

I also made the witch a little broom out of a twig and a few pine needles:

Great for gifts, favors and can be used year after year:

If you like these, please make sure to check out my Princess Peg Doll Tutorial! Click here or click the images below:

Aren’t they cute! You can make your princesses look however you want! Simple or extravagant:

Also check out the Superhero version! Click here or click the images below for the Boy-Ville tutorial and download:

Love these:

And there’s a Christmas Nativity version too. Click here or click the images for the Nativity tutorial and download:

These popsicle stick tombstones and cemetery are part of a larger Halloween project I’m working on. (I shared the miniature pumpkins yesterday, also part of the same project.)

These were really fun to make and Boo got a big kick out of the funny sayings on them. It’s the perfect way to add a spooky element to a fairy village!

I love any project that can just be made from popsicle sticks because you can purchase them in large bundles and pretty much have an endless supply. The little wood picket fence I got from Michaels too:

I used wire cutters to cut the popsicle sticks into different lengths. For each tombstone you’ll need two pieces: a base and vertical monument piece. I used the curve of the popsicle sticks for an instant classic tombstone shape and cut the corners off of some of the rectangular pieces for another shape:

Michaels is overflowing with pumpkins right now! I love the craft pumpkins because you can use them year after year. There are orange pumpkins, chalkboard pumpkins, black pumpkins and cream pumpkins. They also have glow-in-the-dark pumpkins, concrete pumpkins and diorama pumpkins. This year I was staring at the blank pumpkins in the big display basket and I thought they looked a little like plump little hedgehogs…so that’s what I decided to make:

They were very easy to make. I started with the cream craft pumpkins:

And I bought a few bags of these decorative glass accents:

The quickest way to attach the glass pieces is with a hot glue gun. They will stay on just fine as long as you aren’t moving the pumpkins around frequently. If you plan to be a little more rough with them I’d suggest using an industrial glue like E-6000.

Just place the glass accents onto the hot glue and hold until the glue sets:

Cover the entire pumpkin except for a small circle where the face of the hedgehog will be:

I used small black pebbles for the eyes and mouth (also sold in bags in the floral section):

Like the owl pumpkins I made a few years ago I decided to make an entire family of hedgehogs:

Three different size pumpkins:

The gold glass accents look great with the cream background:

Who doesn’t love hedgehogs?

Especially baby hedgehogs!

They’d make a great addition to the porch or as table centerpieces:

To kick off fall in your own home, visit Michaels.com and check out the variety of craft pumpkins available – there is every color, shape and size you could ever want! There are tons of ways to DIY your own craft pumpkin for your home, a party or even as a gift.

Make sure to check out the pumpkins I’ve made in the past here:

Be sure to check out all of the other Michaels Makers pumpkin ideas on the Michaels blog!

Halloween is creeping up on us…get into the spooky spirit than with a unique DIY Halloween costume! Boo wanted to make a costume this year that could include Max our dog. When I asked her why she wanted to be law enforcement she said because of Officer Tony (Swain County Sheriff’s Office) who greets her everyday at school and Officer Adam (Bryson City Police) whose son is in her class.

She finally decided on a K-9 Police Officer:

Boo and her K-9 Officer Max:

The back of her shirt:

This was a really easy costume to make. Here are the basic steps:

Making the Hat: First I printed off a template that I made in Powerpoint to make sure the lettering would fit:

I used a black hat from Michaels and the easiest way to transfer the letters was just to cut them out and trace them with a pencil:

I filled in each letter with white puffy paint:

Tulip Slick:

Making the T-Shirt: For the shirt, I printed off lettering and traced them over white transfer paper:

And traced and filled in the letters with paint as well:

The finished shirt:

Making the Police Badges: For the badges I used an old cereal box. I sketched out a quick generic design:

The same puffy paint that was used on the hat and shirt I used to create raised areas on the cardboard:

A badge for Boo and badge for Max:

Once the paint was dry I used chrome-colored spray paint to cover the badges:

After being spray painted:

I used a small brush and black paint to add “POLICE” and “K-9”. Once they were dry I added the badge pins to the back:

Making the Dog Uniform: For the dog outfit I traced one of Max’s little coats onto black felt:

I traced “POLICE” onto each side:

And puffy paint to create the letters too:

Staples close the front:

Adhesive velcro tabs were used for the bottom straps, but only on one side because the tabs will stick to felt:

Max with his new police outfit:

All of the costume pieces:

My little K-9 Officer and her sidekick:

They make a pretty good team:

This guy is just sniffing for candy though, he has a one track mind:

But at least they get to do it together this year:

I think Max loved his costume more than Boo liked hers. We might have to make him a few more:

Still haven’t decided what you’re going to be? Check out the other 49 DIY costumes from the Michaels Makers and you might just find the perfect one for you, your kiddos or your beloved pet this Halloween– they’re to die for!

I can’t believe that summer is already quickly coming to a close and that fall is almost here. That means it’s almost pumpkin time. As a Michaels Maker each year I get a chance to come up with a unique craft pumpkin and I must have been feeling a little embroidery deprived because all I wanted to do was stitch this year. So here’s the project I came up with: hand stitched / embroidered pumpkins. A mix between candlewicking/embroidery…

…and cross-stitching:

I love the Michaels craft pumpkins because they can be re-used year after year. The first thing you have to do it just cut the top off…and there is no mess inside to clean out:

I used charcoal and pencil to sketch out a quick design. If you mess up the easiest way to clean off the drawing is with a damp magic eraser.

You can easily hand punch your holes with a sharp object like a skewer or a small flat head screw driver but I recommend a household drill to get the job done quickly and more precise:

Here is my first design…all the holes drilled:

I took a thick black yarn and an embroidery needle and began to stitch my design. I recommend using smaller lengths of yarn than larger and just re-thread often:

This was the first one I made and I love the way the garland turned out:

I learned this stitch when I was about 5 years old…so no excuses about not being able to sew:

This easy hand drawn vine design took about 10 minutes to stitch:

It provides a balanced contrast of simplicity next to the busier pumpkin:

And the cat…Boo loves this one:

I used a hot knife to cut slits into the side of the pumpkin starting at the top opening to hold the ears. The cat ears are just pieces of black card stock cut into curved triangles:

I love the monochromatic look:

To kick off fall in your own home, visit Michaels.com and check out the variety of craft pumpkins available – there is every color, shape and size you could ever want!

Just a bit more information from Michaels stores:

There are tons of ways to DIY your own craft pumpkin for your home, a party or even as a gift.

I was so excited when Better Homes and Gardens asked me to ship my Sharpie Pumpkins to them a few months ago for a photo shoot. But then a lot of time went by and I completely forgot about it…until last Sunday when I was at the grocery store getting ready to check out there was my little “sugar skull” owl pumpkin right on the front cover:

Of course I bought it. The girl at the checkout line must have thought I was crazy…or that I LIVE for pumpkin decorating. I’ll never get used to seeing things I’ve made featured somewhere…it’s like a Christmas morning feeling when someone likes something you made and wants to share it with the world.

P.S. The owl might look familiar to some of you…it was inspired by a screen print I drew for a limited edition dress a few years ago (back when I had the clothing line.) I called her Frida K-owl-o:

It’s our first Halloween in Bryson City. I’m not really a Halloween person…I don’t think I’ve dressed up since like 8th grade? I don’t care for Freddie Kruger, ever since he chased me home one night at dusk (I swear he was behind me, but I couldn’t confirm it because I was in crazy-panic-run). Growing up my mom would never let us wear scary costumes. My dad was always dressed up as Moses with the Ten Commandments to greet the neighborhood kids. Our church banned witches, zombies and skeletons.

Since moving to Bryson City we’ve been going to the Grove Church. Our pastor, Jeff, asked if we’d help out with the Halloween event that they hold each year for the community. My first thought was: ugh, Halloween, no way. But instead my fingers texted back: Would love to help! That’s right up my alley.

I had no idea what I was in for. I was thinking a few pumpkins, hotdogs, churchy people….instead I found myself in the middle of an event on the scale of Broadway. And this year’s theme? Wizard of Oz.

Nothing wrong with Wizard of Oz right? Except that it’s on the bottom of my list of movies I would choose to watch. I had nightmares for years when I was little about the Wicked Witch. Once she stole my baby sister out of her crib as I watched…one night she stabbed my dad with a sword while he tried to fix the TV. That Wicked Witch was sealed in my mind. I’m not exaggerating…here’s a page from my journal years ago. Obviously she still haunts me:

And then yesterday, when I asked what I could do to help, the first thing I was assigned:

Could you set up the melted witch with the caution tape?

Really? This event was planned to torture me right?

And as people started to show up I felt myself getting increasingly anxious:

Who would let their kid wear that scary costume? How is dressing up as Freddy Kruger fun? Wait, is it legal to carry a toy gun?

These were many of the reasons I’d been given growing up as to why I shouldn’t be a fan of Halloween. But as I looked around I realized that I should be a fan of Halloween. Why? Because Halloween is community. It’s the one holiday where people actually come out of their homes. The one holiday where people open their doors to people they don’t know in large numbers and hand them gifts. I saw my daughter and her new friends walking down the street thanking shop owners for candy. I saw business owners, politicians, and law enforcement mingling among the community and at one point Boo was yelling hello to a deputy she knew across the street. I told a man dressed up as a Cherokee Indian that he would win the costume contest and he told me he had just come from work: the Cherokee Indian Reservation. But he was really nice and thanked me for noticing how well dressed he was.

It’s so easy to love people who like all the same things you do—who never listen to music that makes you cringe, or who believe all the same things you believe. But love sometimes asks you to lay down your preferences, and dive into someone else’s world for a little while.

Sometimes that world is full of fake spiders.

Sometimes it’s the ballet or country music or Russian novels. Sometimes it’s staying quiet when you want to talk, sometimes it’s giving space when you want to rush in. Love asks what’s best for the person you love, not what’s best or most convenient to you.

Yes, sometimes the world is full of fake spiders. And fake pooling witches. And big green gates with green glitter as a welcome mat. Here was our church opening up (green) doors to anyone who wished to come in…no strings attached. No rules. No judgement. Just community:

We jumped right in wearing our LoveBrysonshirts. Boo even decided to dress up as a “church volunteer” instead of her butterfly costume. LoveBryson was started by The Grove Church as a way to give back to Bryson City and the surrounding community. It’s a community service-based group that works with established organizations in the area when specific needs come up. LoveBryson also pioneers its own efforts to make a difference in the community, everything from supplying firewood in the winter, school backpack drives and even installing much needed wheelchair ramps.

This month as a Michaels Maker I was challenged to come up with a DIY Halloween costume. I asked Boo what she wanted to be and she gave me an answer that we summed up to be something like a phantom butterfly:

I wanted to come up with something that was easy to recreate so I used 2 Gildan t-shirts from Michaels (size XXL):

We made the wings and the antennae and bought the masquerade mask from Michaels: move 2

Basically to make the wings I took 2 of the largest size adult t-shirts I could find at Michaels and cut each one as shown (basically using each sideways shirt as a wing):

The two shirts cut into two wings: (click continue reading) [Read more…]